I set to work removing Lace's shoes and socks. A line of grime outlined her ankles where the socks had provided some protection. I set the shoes aside, thinking they probably were a complete loss; covered with things I didn't want to think about. I caught Gabriella's eye and drew her attention to Lace's damaged ankle. She'd been struck by something long and narrow that left a dark welt and considerable swelling.
"Those animals." Gabriella sighed, taking the same inventory. "We'll need to get you into a bath." She gently moved Lace's bangs from her face, stroked her cheek, and turned to me. "We can't risk infection. Felix, I'm going to need bandages, hydrogen peroxide, antibiotic cream and a wrap for her ankle. She should see a doctor."
"No doctor," Lace said, opening her eyes painfully. "We are still in danger."
"Leave my bag on the bed," Gabriella said.
I didn't have what she wanted in the truck, but knew a twenty-four-hour chain store was nearby.
When I got back to the room thirty minutes later, I knocked softly. "It's me, Felix."
Gabriella unchained the door and let me in. "I'm worried, Felix. She's in bad shape."
"She's in the bath?" I asked.
"I was just about to get her out." Gabriella had laid out some of her own clothing on the bed. "Felix, go in the other room and clean up. I'll be in shortly."
Once I was in the next room, I pulled off my shirt and tossed it into the trash. No amount of cleaning would save it. Unlacing my boots, I was gratified to see they'd fared considerably better than Lace's shoes. Between the preservation enchantment I'd placed on them and their waterproof design, not much needed to be done except knock off a little debris and clean the outside with a wash cloth. My jeans, however, were another matter. I wasn't happy to toss them, but they were torn and the blue material nearly unrecognizable. I removed the belt and dropped the pants on top of my shirt in the trash.
For a few minutes, I simply sat in the comfortable chair, appreciating the quiet. I woke with a start to Gabriella's fingers brushing my cheek.
"Farha is getting antsy," she said. "I told him we needed more time."
I looked at the clock, it was five-fifteen in the morning.
"Help me get cleaned up?" Gabriella asked, unbuttoning her ruined, form-fitting cotton blouse.
I stood, placed one hand behind her neck, the other low on her waist and pulled her in for a kiss. She let go of her buttons and accepted my embrace. As I moved my hands through her hair, my fingers caught on a small piece of debris.
"What is that?" Gabriella pulled back, her hands searching.
I chuckled as she pulled a pinkie-sized bit of something from her hair, relieved upon inspection that it was merely a stick.
I reached for her buttons and finished the job she'd started, helping her pull the shirt tails from her tight jeans. I fumbled while unbuttoning her pants and was pleased when the metal snap cap popped loose and the zipper spread open easily. A reassuring smile from her was all I needed as she wriggled out of the pants, allowing them to pool at her feet. I lifted her to me, her legs wrapping around my waist as I brought an arm around under her bottom to provide support. If I could have frozen time at that moment, I would have.
"Shower, love," she whispered, releasing her legs and sliding from me. She turned, holding one of my hands and pulled me toward the bathroom. With her free hand she reached for the clasp of her once pristine, lacy bra, not quite reaching it.
"Allow me," I said. I used my ability to manipulate small objects and unhooked her bra with a flick of my fingers.
"An interesting skill," she said. "Tell me where you learned to do that."
"Would you think less of me if I said high school?"
She laughed freely, dropping her bra into the trash can. "Let me guess, you used it on the unsuspecting?"
For a moment, I had a difficult time saying anything. As dirty as we both were, I found it difficult to form anything close to a full sentence with her standing in front of me, naked, except for a thin pair of low-hipped panties. My gaze traveled up from her shapely waist, across her stomach and rested for a moment on her petite breasts.
"Not much there," Gabriella said apologetically. Her words were so incongruous with my thoughts that I looked into her eyes in confusion. A smile tugged at the sides of her lips. "No treble, as Thea said."
"For such a brilliant witch, you seem incapable of reading me at the most unusual times," I said, resting my hand on her hip and turning her so she faced the mirror with me behind her. "Read me as I tell you that you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." I allowed my left hand to slide beneath the waist band of her panties and my right to cup her breast. My excitement grew as I pulled her back into me and caressed her neck. She moaned in expectation, tipping her head over to rest against my own. We stood for a few minutes simply enjoying the closeness. I finally separated, allowing the moment to pass. I would not have our first time together be rushed. For once, I had hope we could truly be together.
I turned and started the shower. As I did, Gabriella grabbed the bottom of my shorts and yanked them to the ground, pantsing me. "Your body's making promises you better be ready to make good on, Mister." I turned back as she dropped her own panties. I bit my lip, drawing blood.
"Not like this," I whispered huskily. "I don't want to be rushed."
She nodded and slipped past me, brushing her shapely tush across my front side. I bit down even harder and followed her into the shower.
800-ASS CLOWN
"She's really quite beautiful," Gabriella said. We were ready to meet with Jardeep, having texted him that we were heading to the diner. He let us know he was annoyed it was nine thirty in the morning and the night had slipped away.
Gabriella and I stood at the door adjoining our two rooms. Lace lay on the bed, sleeping soundly. Gabriella had lent her a dark dress. It appeared to fit well, a mystery I never could quite put together. Just how could two women, so differently shaped, be able to wear the same clothing?
"She is," I agreed. "I can't imagine what they had planned for her."
"Yes you can, which is why you feel responsible for her," Gabriella said, crossing the room. "Lace." She gently shook the sleeping girl's shoulder. "Lace. It's time to go."
Lace's eyes opened. She looked from Gabriella to me and sat up. "I should leave, I'm endangering you."
"We are sisters," Gabriella said.
"Yeh barely know me," Lace said, her Scottish accent more pronounced. "I deserve what I've got coming; I've done things."
"No more than what was required to survive. I saw as much when we joined," Gabriella said. "Stay with us for now. We'll talk about the future when it finds us."
Lace slid from the bed and stepped gingerly onto her swollen ankle, grimacing. Even cleaned up, she looked like a victim of abuse, bearing a multitude of scars from her ordeal. Gabriella dutifully slipped beneath Lace's arm and braced her, helping her to the elevator and out to the truck. Thick clouds had rolled in and a light drizzle had started. We were in for significant rain.
"We're not sure how much Jardeep knows of our world," I cautioned, pulling up in front of the diner. "He may be on a fishing trip. We have to be careful about sharing too much."
The diner was busy, the morning rush just getting underway, and we found Jardeep seated alone at a deep booth that overlooked the two-lane highway.
"Coffee?" A waitress asked cheerfully as I slid in next to Jardeep. I flipped my cup over as did Gabriella.
"Orange juice?" I asked.
"Fresh," she winked. Her double entendre obviously part of a well-rehearsed shtick. "Do you know what you want, hun?"
I couldn't recall the last time we'd eaten and the smells of baked and fried foods had my full attention. I looked at Lace who was staring out the window. "It's going to rain," she said.
"Lace. Food?"
"I'm okay."
"We'll have two short stacks and whatever fresh fruit you have," Gabriella said.
"What'd I miss?" Maggie surpri
sed us all by appearing behind the waitress and sliding in next to Gabriella.
"Just ordering breakfast. You hungry?" I asked, looking skeptically at her. Last we'd talked, she was concerned about another shift, due to low body fat. The skin on her face was again stretched tight, making her look like someone on a hunger strike.
"You better believe it," she said and proceeded to order more than enough food for the entire table.
"Who is this?" Jardeep asked, once the waitress left.
"A friend of ours. Maggie," Gabriella offered quickly. "Don't worry, she can either hear what we have to say here or we'll tell her later."
Jardeep didn't look as though he approved, but didn't push the issue.
"Walk me through last night," he said. "How'd you figure out that location? Don’t tell me it was one of your old hangouts with Althea Sanders. I'm not buying it."
"Pretty mundane, actually," I said. "Gabriella showed me how to track her phone, which Willum's thugs had stolen. I recalled that Thea had a similar phone and guessed her password. That's all it took to track her. I'm surprised the FBI didn't do it."
"We didn't have a warrant for Ms. Sander's phone. We also didn't know she had such a big part in all this," he defended.
"Here we go." The waitress returned with a full tray of food and passed it out, stacking four of the plates around Maggie.
For a moment, the table was quiet as we took a moment to refuel. It was after Maggie had finished her second plateful of eggs and placed a short-stack of pancakes in front of her when she noticed Jardeep's eyes on her.
"I'm starving," Maggie said, drenching the pancakes with strawberry syrup.
"You're a shifter," he said, looking from Maggie back to me.
"Careful," I warned.
"Not much of a guess," Maggie said. "Even Jar-Jar would have put it together eventually."
"Jar-Jar?" I asked. Gabriella covered her mouth, stifling a smile.
"Live under a rock much, bro?" she asked and then moved on. "No, Jar-derp here is part of the group that hunted mom and forced her to go underground."
"Atronia was a danger to everyone," Jardeep said. "She had to be reined in."
"How'd that go for you?" Maggie asked.
"I was reassigned," he said. "I'm sure I don't know."
"What do you mean hunted?" I asked.
"Imagine the knights of the round table hunting the dragon, only in this story the knights always get eaten," she said. "Back in the eighties, Reagan - you know, the actor turned president? Well, his buddy Bush uncovered the presence of witches. Between the two of them, they decided witches needed to be tracked - up until they discovered Mom in the early nineties. Rather than just tracking her, she needed to be brought in - for the safety of the country and all."
"Wasn't Bush a president?"
"Right," Maggie rolled her eyes. "His Dad … never mind, the presidents aren't important. What's important is that Jar-derp here was an up and coming agent. Wait." She looked at him. "You want to tell it?"
"No, I think you've got it about right," Jardeep replied. "Aside from the name calling that is."
Maggie gave him her shoulder and turned back to me. "Well, Jar-derp here, sucked Mom into a problem they were having with a demon, not unlike what's going on today. Only when they finished, after Mom saved the day, they came after her. Apparently, Jar-derp couldn't wrap his puny little mind around the idea that Mom was a good little sorcerer and everyone would be better off making friends."
"That’s when Mom split?" I asked.
"More or less." Maggie stuffed an impossibly large piece of pancake into her mouth.
"What your sister has failed to tell you is we approached Atronia with peaceful intent," Jardeep said. "She simply needed to submit to a few tests and help us when situations arose."
"Why haven't you gone after the rest of our family?"
"Mom was special, Felix," Maggie said. "She wasn't a witch or even a wizard. She was a full blown, fire from her finger tips, call down lightning from the heavens, knock down buildings with a glare, sorcerer. The rest of us just aren't that special, barely reaching a five or six on Epps Thaumaturgic scale."
"Scale?"
"We rank your kind," Jardeep said. "Witches are generally in the one to three range, although I'm guessing Ms. Faa is on the high side of that, given Willum's host's interest in her."
"You know?" Lace asked.
"About the demon?" Jardeep watched Lace carefully for a reaction. She winced at his pronouncement. "Tell me Lace. What is its name?" A prickling along my arm alerted me to the gathering of power next to me. It was coming from Jardeep.
"Uh, well, I'm not really sure," Lace said, fidgeting in her chair.
"It's important. A demon's name is its calling card. It would help us a great deal if we knew this," he said. A wave of power surged across the table.
"Sounds kind of dangerous to give a bunch of bureaucrats the true name of a demon," Maggie said, oblivious to the power struggle taking place at the end of the table. "What? Would you punch it into your computer and anyone with a W10 clearance could read it? It's not like you guys can keep anything secret; pretty soon all wannabe evokers are dialing this guy up. Wait. We could create an 800 number. One eight hundred – a-s-s-c-l-o-w-n." As she talked she counted the letters off on her fingers. "Shit. Too many digits."
"Would you shut up?" Jardeep looked at Maggie in frustration. The second he turned her way, the power dissipated as quickly as my estimation of her increased.
"Do you know where she is now?" I asked.
"Who?" Jardeep looked at me, flustered.
"We were talking about my mother," I said. "Where is she?"
"I have no idea."
"You said you had information about her," I said. "Like what?"
"Yeah, Derp. What information do you have for Felix about his mother?" Maggie asked, stuffing a sausage link into her mouth.
"Maggie," Gabriella elbowed her in the ribs.
"What? I'm on a roll," Maggie complained.
"We're here because I need to understand how you ended up in that cave. Let's start with how you know each other," he said.
"Well. I guess it started when we were young," Maggie jumped in.
"Not you," Jardeep seethed. "Them. How is it that you three know each other?" He indicated Lace, Gabriella and me.
"Not that mysterious," I said. "Lace happens to work at Judy's business."
"Why are you all being so difficult?" he asked, finally reaching his boiling point. "You know what I'm asking."
"No, Jardeep, we really don't. Aside from asking Lace the name of a supposed demon inhabiting Willum Gordon, you haven't asked any questions," I said.
"I want to know how you knew this was about to blow up in Crabtree Valley of all places," he said. "How did you become involved with Lace Faa, the mysterious and missing princess of an Eppy gypsy clan. And how you happened to be involved with Willum Gordon's second in command, Althea Sanders."
"Let's get something clear," I said. "Thea Sanders was a mistake I made a couple of years ago. I could have gone the rest of my life not seeing her again. As for how we showed up here? I'd say that's like every other part of my life. Shit happens and my friends and I end up cleaning it up."
"And Lace?"
"How many shops in North Carolina profess to sell goods and services for the magically gifted or seekers of the same?" I asked.
"No idea, why don't you tell me."
"This doesn't work if you don't play along," I said. "I'll bet you have a pretty good idea."
"Under a hundred and fifty," he said.
"Of those one hundred fifty, how many of them are run by actual, practicing witches who score better than a one on your witch-o-meter scale?" I asked.
"Less than six," he said.
"Do you really find it that hard to believe that Lace was drawn to Judy's shop?" I asked.
"I get your point," he said. "I also believe you're holding out on me."
"What have I missed?"<
br />
We'd been so focused on our argument that we hadn't seen Dana Anderson approach. Her disheveled appearance dispelled any notion that she'd done anything other than come straight from the cathedral.
"Agent Anderson," Jardeep answered. "What are you doing here?"
"We have Willum Gordon trapped," she said. "He and Althea Sanders are barricaded in the big top out at Eppy Faire. They have hostages."
"I see," he answered.
Anderson looked directly at me. "He said he's going to kill the hostages if we don't let him talk to Mr. Slade."
"Felix. You can't go." Gabriella reached across the table and grabbed my arm.
"He's already killed one," Anderson said. "And there are children. We tried to breach, but he had some sort of explosives and several agents were hurt."
"I'll go," I said.
"He's too powerful, Felix," Gabriella argued. "Remember what he did to me."
"I can't let him kill more people," I said. "I'd never be able to live with myself."
"I'll go with you," she said.
"Not this time," I said. "It's too dangerous."
"It's too dangerous for me, but not for you?" she asked, fire in her eyes. "Would you let me go alone?"
"No," I said. "I need to know you're safe."
"No one will be safe if he's allowed to escape," Jardeep said grimly.
"Please," I whispered, knowing I had no right to ask.
"No," Gabriella said simply. "I'll stay back, but that's the best I can do."
"We need to go," Anderson said.
Gabriella pushed Maggie out as I slid from the booth.
"Hey. You're not leaving me behind," Maggie caught up with us.
"No way," Anderson said.
"Like you could stop me," Maggie said.
"Let her," Jardeep said. "That's Sevena Baltazoss."
Anderson lifted an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. She turned back to the car she'd double-parked and left running. "Get in."
"We'll follow you," I said, looking back as Lace hobbled out, a determined look on her face.
Wicked Folk (Witchy World Book 2) Page 18